Farm brothers popular on YouTube post 'Bale!'

Thursday

Latest lyrical parody by Assaria area siblings is a reaction to fed shutdown.

By Amy Bickel The Hutchinson News

Greg Peterson and his brothers have an answer to America amid the government shutdown:

"So the government is bailing on us, yeah? Well, I guess we'll just have to do a little BALING ourselves!" Peterson put on his Facebook page.

And that's what the Peterson Brothers did Tuesday night in the wake of a government shutdown. The farming brothers known for their farm-related YouTube parodies released their latest - "Bale!" - a play on AWOLNATION's "Sail."

You guessed it: It's about baling hay.

Roughly 25,000 views later, Greg Peterson sat in the cab of a semitruck: It's the fall harvest season and his family is in the middle of chopping grain sorghum at the farm near Assaria.

He's back on the farm full-time, having graduated in May from Kansas State University. Yet, he said, he still has the same passion as before - to educate America about production agriculture and family farming.

It all started 18 months ago when the brothers - Greg, Kendal and Nathan - with the help of their sister, Laura, released a parody of the popular song "I'm Sexy and I Know It."

"When we first thought of the idea for a video, it was going to be to show our friends what life on the farm was like," Greg Peterson said Wednesday.

However, when the brothers' video, "I'm Farming and I Grow It," went viral less than a week after they posted it in June 2012, they were a bit surprised.

After all, they consider themselves normal farm kids who've grown up in Saline County. (Nathan currently is a sophomore at K-State; Kendal is a senior at Southeast of Saline High School.)

Now, the three Peterson Brothers are sort of celebrities in the agricultural world.

Their videos have been viewed more than 23 million times from across the world. They've been featured on "Good Morning America" and "The Today Show." They still are traveling to conventions, summits and fairs, promoting the agriculture industry.

The lyrics for "Bale!" came easily, Greg Peterson said.

"This is how I bale my hay; I bale it both night and day. Blame it on humidity, baby," sings Peterson in the video, with scenes showing the brothers baling hay.

Most of the online comments on the video have been positive.

"Ya'll are doing such a great job! This opens? people's eyes about agriculture! Keep it up."

"Memories of the manure spreader being loaded by the dairy barn come to mind."

"Great song, great farmer style!"?

Greg Peterson said he wants to make a living from the farm, but noted that because he is a young farmer just getting started, a side business would help. Moreover, he added, the videos have been fun and promoting agriculture is something he is passionate about.

"I want to figure out how I can use the platform we have been given to make an off-farm income," he said, adding that the videos "keep my creative outlet."

"I was planning on going back to the family farm," he said, "but the videos have opened up quite a few possibilities."

Want to watch the video? Visit www.KansasAgland.com.

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